Review: Eyes of Autumn by Cynthia H. Wise

ABOUT THE BOOK: Recurring dreams have plagued Katie Hammond since childhood, forcing her to keep an open mind to the paranormal. But when Katie is compelled to follow a forest path during her trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, she stumbles into a forgotten life–one she’s not sure she wants to remember–and an enthralling man who shouldn’t exist.

At the end of the path is Marcus Hillyerd, a man with a secret and golden eyes. He comes face-to-face with the only woman he’s ever loved. The only problem–she doesn’t remember him.

Then evil from Marcus’s past emerges and attempts to destroy everything he holds sacred. Needing reinforcement, Marcus calls upon Marcel Enterprises, his network of paranormal beings dedicated to helping victims of corruption. Together, they must risk their lives to keep Katie safe and protect the empire that took Marcus more than a century to build.

Marcus’s heart lurched when he entered the sitting room and saw the portrait of a young woman. Her sea-green eyes captured his and seemed to caress him. They were eyes that became stormy blue with passion and sparked green fire with teasing mischief—eyes that had haunted him for over a century. They were Katie’s eyes.

OUR REVIEW: There are so many genres bundled up into this one fictional story, a reader can surely find at least one thing to connect with. Romantic interest runs somewhat high in this novel between Marcus and Katie, soulmates who have been parted by a secret past rumored around the town of Blue Ridge. Suspense and mystery also run rampant within these pages, a killer is on the loose and a very large estate has several tales to tell. And—if readers didn’t think that was enough, a paranormal element clings to the essence of the story, making it even more eventful. Wise really throws in some twists and never-ending new players to form an interesting, but yet mysterious read—one that may just captivate until the very end.

Katie quits her job after her boss makes unwanted advances toward her, but before she leaves him on his knees in pain—she finds a tape, their whole interaction recorded. She briefly runs into a man with amber eyes earlier within the day, this man is familiar to her—but her work crisis becomes her main focus…that is until the man asks her to lunch after the interaction with her boss. After taking off with the tape as evidence of sexual assault, she and a friend go to a secluded getaway cabin in Blue Ridge for a much needed vacation. No nasty, clingy bosses. No sexy strangers who demand lunch and practically kidnap you. Just Katie and her best friend and roommate, Angie. Upon Katie’s better judgement, she brushes off her suspicion of someone tailing them after Angie tells her that she is being paranoid. Katie and Angie arrive at the cabin, only to find that Katie is still being drawn to a large and rumored haunted estate. It’s in her nightmares, visions, waking moments—there is a powerful force at work here. Through further investigation and a very relaxing picnic, the man who Katie has been trying to get out of her head, suddenly appears like fate has driven them together…or maybe this is a second chance at finding her soulmate? After these visions and nightmares, Katie feels like she has always known this man, Marcus—but as another man in a previous life. Feeling crazy and somewhat still paranoid, will these three find out the secrets within the mysterious estate? What about that feeling of constantly being watched that Katie continues to have? Could someone have an agenda to hurt either of them—even to possibly kill them? And then…what is Marcus hiding about his past?

Wise has a decent story-line with good character development. Some of the characters could have been explained a bit more, but the reader will get a general idea of the majors in the story. The pace is really fast, which may cause some confusion or allow the reader to feel a bit of a loss in plot, especially since there are so many genre clashes. There were a few grammatical and spelling errors here and there, but these may have been cleaned up since an advanced reader copy was provided. If you are a reader of paranormal romance and suspense or mystery, you may be interested in this book. This is the second installment in the series; however, readers are able to read this story as a standalone without needing information previously mentioned in the first book.

A copy of this book was provided to Turning Another Page by Chick Lit Plus, but this in no way affects our honest opinion of the book or the review that has been written.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cynthia H. Wise first conceived the idea for Portrait of Rage years ago. At that time, she wrote stories for her own enjoyment. Inspired at an early age by the paranormal, Cynthia enjoyed having the ability to become someone else, travel to distant places, and experience new things as she wrote. During the long process of editing Portait of Rage, an idea began to take root. You can find her here: www.cynthishwise.com.